The Centaur

The Slot Race is ILLEGAL. Although with a slight change then would make it OK. The conditions restricts competitive behaviour in that any potential competitor to NZB is discouraged. Thats against the Commerce Act. If NZB puts up the whole stake then perhaps they can be OK but since the money is coming from the TAB funds its not OK. It's like the Auckland Racing Club running a race just for horses that are fed Dunstan products and Auckland putting up the stake. Given the number of industry resources now going into the Karaka Millions and not just NZB funding I feel The Karaka Millions are now also illegal.

The max oncourse Ellerslie crowd is 10,000. Already booked out this week. The question is how much revenue comes from the big racing days. Also why overkilling a few days with all these goodies when there is no extra return unless the attendance charges are upped. The same hype existed at Ellerslie in 1990 when the million dollar international race was inaugurated. That I don't think lasted more than two years.

TAB has gone all in on sport. They are right into scoring own goals. No need to retire Tony at all. Also old time racing punters would have been bewildered not having a tote double on the Thorndon and cup. Options on all other stupid eventualities but the one option likely to attract once a year punters deleted.

SENZ Radio - Total rubbish. Didn't hear a mention this morning of Tony Lee. The second hour of the show total rubbish. Mostly talk on Karaka Millions and sales. Not a word about Wellington Cup. There must be some way of suing whoever owns the station for wasting listeners time. Why waste 10 minutes talking about delayed barrier draws for Karaka Million just baffling. Any humour on the show puerile and pathetic. At least Stephen Marsh who is experienced in media gave the first hour some plusses. The rest of the show just pathetic.

H'mm you bring back bad memories. Had Suttle relatively for me a huge bet then all the way up the straight "knew" Suttle would get past Simon De Montfort. If you listen to the Peter Kelly replays you would note SDM ran a great 4th the year before. So in hindsight the $180 unexplainable.

My memory of 1963 is vivid. My father not on any high paid job got a free service to the stallion Copenhagen simply because Mr Alexander of Wynthorpe stud was so taken by the appearance of the mare. We spent that summer preparing the yearling for the sales and arrived at Trentham with horse mid afternoon driving past the main gates. Then over the fence to watch the next race which so happened to be the Wellington Cup. Couldn't find any vantage point but I remember the grey Blue Blade which was from our neighbourhood 10L clear before turning for home. Ran 3rd paying 66 for a place. Seeing it was the first time ever at Trentham I thought the giant reception for Great Sensation occurred for every winner. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19630121.2.19

In case you missed this link. Peter Kelly just made the race. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA6nfXJkAsc&t=1031s

These are just names to me but the horse Ribaldo links up with the name Murfitt. Seems part and parcel of the Riccarton scene.

What real world? There are several NZ players in Singapore & Macau e,g Stephen Gray Donna Logan etc each who have established their own client base. Bringing them back to NZ would be positive for here so NZTR should look at ways to attract them.

With Macau and Singapore going one has to ask what New Zealand Racing authorities are doing to gather up the remnants of infrastructure, participants, customers etc. For example set up a low cost travel tourism business for racing fans from those areas. Computer and IT systems may be useful. At least ensure the NZ racing wagering product gets into those areas.

I remember when living in the South Is. a striking black called Every Post which kind of links with Gary Lee. Probably wrong though. If right then would have been the horse to get Lee started?

I note that exactly 50 years ago Timaru held a 2 day meeting after Christmas. Also that the Timaru cup was run over 2100m won by Mister Pompous ridden by one L. J. Molloy. Seems the rider never learnt from upsetting officials as the ride earned a suspension. The second leg of TAB double was won by Grey Way beating Condor a horse I had a bit to do with.

With the rail out seems 1600m has to revert to 1500m. That a negative. Hope the golf driving range is still there.

Actually Aiden Rodley might appear dry but sense of humour good. When interviewing Robbie Patterson. "More celebrations.... that's the last thing you need !"

Some would find it ok but as management is responsible to directors or shareholders most companies would steer clear of supporting gambling. Not so supporting racing clubs or racing in general. Conclusion: as I have said a standalone company.

Race calling was never in the brief of the TAB. They got into it by default firstly investing in Radio Pacific then setting up Trackside TV. All along if the racing codes had any real entrepreneurial nous they should have set up a standalone media company covering all forms of media e.g. internet. Rounding up advertisers is the backbone of media. I fail to see how most companies would reconcile with advertising in a gambling organisation.

Helps also having the right financial backing. Have you seen the facilities Noble has to operate with?

Patterson versus Sharrock should be good contest for rest of year.

I wonder if commentators listen to constructive criticism. Tony Lee used to have a problem of screaming at the finish of races and unfortunately his successor is far worse. Contrast this with Peter Kelly who would concentrate on style. Fluency during the running is key and the best once again was Peter Kelly and until recent times Tony Lee was great. Current assessment of Justin Evans is "must tone it down" and stop being a compulsive talker.

That comes under official. Prior to computer it took a lot longer.

One of the reasons for nominations be it early or late was the time required for clubs to gather the information for official and printing needs. These days its done in a fraction of a second. The noms nowadays is just for sweepstake purposes or for management to seek a better restaurant.

Yeah some of the "initiatives" questionable. Example the pay before official result scheme. What the purpose is I don't know. If its public relations then consider many overseas races go say 20 minutes before payout or result appearing on the screen. Particularly if there is a close finish and photo. You would think flashing the photo result across the screen would be a public relations exercise. Even in the days of NZBC when TAB results were available every 1/4 hour the service was better.

Seems Entain has been jumping into countries just as they did with New Zealand. Some interests in these countries not happy. Example below that of Poland. THE HEAD OF ENTAIN UNDER FIRE. ARE THERE MAJOR CHANGES COMING IN THE STRUCTURES OF THE NEW OWNER OF STS(Poland)? The head of Entain is under fire. Are there major changes coming in the structures of the new owner of STS? 12/12/2023 BETTING At the end of last week, the Financial Times published a famous article announcing an upcoming earthquake for the world's tycoon. The material quotes statements by important shareholders of the gambling tycoon Entain, who direct accusations against the company's CEO - Jette Nygaard-Andersen. The head of Entain is criticized, among other things, for her decision to take over STS. Entain under pressure from shareholders Dark clouds are gathering over Entain - a significant brand in the gambling world - which in 2022 took the first steps towards expansion into Poland by acquiring the Totolotka license, and a year later it officially came to our country thanks to the acquisition of STS. The CEO of the company, Jette Nygaard-Andersen, found herself in the eye of the storm, receiving a wave of criticism from Entain's shareholders, who were dissatisfied with the way she ran the business. As the Financial Times points out, "Falling share prices, increasing regulatory pressure, increased shareholder activity and growing internal dissatisfaction" - these are just some of the problems that Nygaard-Andersen must face. The matter came to a head when 20 of the company's shareholders decided to speak out and, through the FT, directly criticize the incompetent leadership. Since August this year, Entain's share price has fallen by 40 per cent, reducing its market capitalization to £5.1 billion. This is a much lower sum than what was on the table during the two takeover attempts in 2021. Entain revenue growth (%) (Financial Times based on company information) Entain's financial performance continues to deteriorate, even despite the fact that during Nygaard-Andersen's tenure, the company made 11 acquisitions for a total amount of £2 billion, and the amount allocated for further acquisitions is expected to double over the next five years. Ultimately, the current expansion into the Netherlands, Canada and Poland is not able to cover the problems that have been troubling the company for a long time. – Nygaard-Andersen's dizzying rush towards constant mergers and acquisitions shows a lack of awareness and general understanding of business economics, as well as shareholder sentiment - said one of Entain's 20 largest shareholders in the FT. Chaos and criticism of the decision to take over STS Organizational chaos - these are two words that clearly emerge from the shareholder statements. Over the past month, Entain was forced to close two acquired businesses. We are talking about the American e-sports platform Unikrn, purchased for GBP 50 million, and Totolotek, acquired for GBP 5 million. We can draw our own conclusions based on the steps taken by Entain on the Polish market. Let us recall that the company decided to enter Poland by purchasing the Totolotka license, on which the bwin brand was originally to be launched. However, the launch of the bookmaker, which was very popular in our country before the amendment to the Gambling Act, was regularly postponed. Ultimately, the idea of launching bwin in Poland was abandoned and the iconic Totolotek was closed. Before this happened, Entain undertook another, much larger investment in our country. In June, information was made public about the takeover of the largest bookmaker brand on the Polish market - STS - by the gambling tycoon. The transaction worth £750 million was made through the Entain CEE joint venture, created together with the Czech investment fund Emma Capital. To say that Entain's takeover of shares in STS was not well received by shareholders would be a huge understatement. In an open letter to the board, Eminence Capital, which owns a 2.1% stake in Entain, described the decision to acquire STS as "troublesome on many levels." – The shareholders' reaction to the takeover offer of STS shares should be a warning signal to the previously deaf Entain management and management board. We are outraged by this transaction, and in the light of the changes in the company's share prices, we are certainly not alone in this reaction - we could read in one of the final fragments of the letter. Interestingly, the owner of over 2% of shares in Entain announced that in the face of the steps taken by the company, he will most likely support the decision to sell the company: - Since shareholders are losing faith in Entain's ability to allocate capital (...), it is quite likely that they will support the sale of the company on to MGM at a much lower price than previously expected. Clumsy attempts to get out of trouble It is clear that the mood in the company has not been the best for at least half a year. Entain is trying to take steps to save the situation, but at this point it is difficult to imagine a solution that would not involve serious changes in the management board. The actions taken by Entain are not very effective. The company, plagued by regulatory problems, is trying to avert the crises in Turkey and the Netherlands. While a settlement was reached in the "Land of the Crescent Moon", which Jette Nygaard-Andersen's defenders attribute to her resourcefulness, the fine imposed by the Dutch regulator on BetCity calls into question Entain's effectiveness in this matter. The fact that the FT article devoted a lot of time to the issue of Nygaard-Andersen's numerous private flights, which, as the material indicates, were rare under the previous management, says a lot about the current climate in the company. Ultimately, the company decided to cut costs and this summer imposed a ban on all but essential travel. Additionally, as a result of restructuring in the digital operations department, there were 300 layoffs, and the management decided to postpone the annual employee satisfaction survey to the next year due to the fact that reorganization is ongoing in some areas of the company. The entire text should be treated as one big criticism of the company's CEO's actions, which, according to shareholders, are damaging Entain on many levels. There are many indications that Jette Nygaard-Andersen may not survive the storm that broke out last week. Entain will most likely face major structural changes. Organizational changes began this summer and resulted in, among other things, the final termination of Totolotka's operations in Poland. The company's problems will most likely also be felt by STS, but we will be able to say more about their long-term effects in the more distant future.

Pity to "see" her go.

You mention John Wheeler. Given his experience both NZ and internationally I don't think racing ever has made sufficient use of his international experience. Granted he was on a members council that however didn't make him visible to the public and racing administrators. I remember John being in the Jay Cees when in his twenties and even then he was a superb speaker and could relate to those around him.